For all of time, probably dating back to periods unrecorded, women had been underneath men and for the most part, they took it. After countless years of being the inferior gender, women all over America came together for the first time to be heard. Tired of their unequal rights and inability to have their voices heard, women from all over the country began to hold conventions, write radical articles in newspapers, and create small opportunities for themselves to begin the slow climb into equality with men. Though the collective goal of gender equality was not reached until after the Antebellum Period, these reforms and revolutionary ways of thinking were vital to the suffrage and equality movements as a whole. Without these preexisting societies, foundations, colleges, and documents, the idea of woman's rights would have been too revolutionary for the time. The feminists of the Antebellum time knew that equality would happen, slowly, but surely. They were tired of not being equal to men and not being able to voice their opinions in elections. Despite the fact that women were not able to receive their suffrage in the antebellum period they advocated their cause with the most effort possible. It is actually more understandable that after being held under men for so long they didn't become equal so fast. However, in later years, women looked upon the females in this time period for hope and inspiration and, due to these women, were able to get their inalienable rights, just like men. Women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony were the sites of motivation and without their influence then, women today wouldn't be in the equal position to men they are held at now.
Events:
1848
Senca Falls Convention held in Seneca Falls, NY. "Declaration of Sentiments" made and signed by 68 women and 32 men.
1850
The first National Woman's Rights Convention is held in Worcester, Mass., and recieved over 1,000 participants.
1836
Sarah Grimke starts her career as a women's rights reformer. By men who think her speaking is a liabilty she is silenced.
1839
Mississippi passes the Married Woman's Property Act and is the first to do so.
1844
The Lowell emale Labor Reform Association is formed by female textile workers to order that their workdays become 10 hours.
1850
The 'bloomer' begins to be worn but is abdicated by many women's rights activists because it was a distraction.
1851
Sojourner Truth, former slave, gives her "Ain't I a Woman?" speech in Akron, Ohio.
1855
the first state school to allow women to go there is the University of Iowa.
1866
14th Amendment is passed and it gives all citizens suffrage but defines "citizens" as well as "voters" as "male".
1866
The first association to speak for women's right to vote is formed, the American Equal Rights Association.
1868
Equal work and equal pay is supported by the National Labor Union.
1868
The important magazine The Revolution is started to be published by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony
>
Throughout all of time women's rights has been advocated by all women, in intense forms as well as docile ones. Although the women in the antebellum period were unable to get their main goal, suffrage, within this time, that does not change the fact that they laid the groundwork for women up until 1920 when they did obtain the right to vote. The women in this time tried their best and that is what they are remembered for.
1836
Sarah Grimke starts her career as a women's rights reformer. By men who think her speaking is a liability she is silenced.
1837
Mount Holyoke College is founded as the first all woman's college.
1839
Mississippi passes the Married Woman's Property Act and is the first to do so.
1844
The Lowell Female Labor Reform Association is formed by female textile workers to order that their workdays become 10 hours.
1848
Senca Falls Convention held in Seneca Falls, NY. "Declaration of Sentiments" made and signed by 68 women and 32 men
1851
Sojourner Truth, former slave, gives her "Ain't I a Woman?" speech in Akron, Ohio.
1855
The first state school to allow women to go there is the University of Iowa.
1866
14th Amendment is passed and it gives all citizens suffrage but defines "citizens" as well as "voters" as "male". The first association to speak for women's right to vote is formed, the American Equal Rights Association.
1868
Equal work and equal pay is supported by the National Labor Union.
The Declaration of Sentiments is a document signed by 68 women and 32 men on July 19, 1848, declaring “the grand basis for attaining the civil, social, political, and religious rights of women.” The creation of this declaration documentcaused lots of controversy; many respected their thoughts/ideas but didn’t actually want to “abandon conventional mindsets.” The people who wrote this demanded that women were "equal with man" and that they deserved equal rights.
Discourse On Woman is a book written by Mott in which she talked about how women's lives were restricted. After publishing this book, she became more widely known. Once slavery was finally outlawed in 1865, she began to argue over the fact that black Americans should have the right to vote. Lucretia was from then on known as the central peacemaker of her time. She believed that since women worked just as hard as men did, that they were simply claiming their rights that they deserved.
"Ain't I A Woman" is a speech delivered by Sojourner Truth at the Ohio Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio. Truth argued that all of the white Americans often had more rights and privileges, while none of this was extended to blacks. She used examples about how white women were always helped into carriages, or over a mud puddle; but none of those gestures were extended to her. She thought that if white women were given respect like this, then black women should receive it too.
People:
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
She and her husband were active members of the American Anti-Slavery Society
She met Lucretia Mott on her honeymoon, and the two became close with their beliefs
Stanton, Martha Wright, and Lucretia Mott organized the Seneca Falls Convention and presented the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, in 1848
1850, Stanton was invited to speak during the first National Women's Rights Convention but could not go because she was pregnant
She circulated petitions that led to the enactment of the New York State Married Women's Property Act, passed in 1860
She helped co-found the National Women Suffrage Association with Susan B. Anthony, in 1869
Stanton was elected president of National American Women Suffrage Association, in 1890
In 1878, Stanton drafted a federal woman suffrage amendment that was passed as the 19th amendment in the Constitution in 1920
Susan B. Anthony
Anthony grew up in a culture that let women freely express themselves and worked as a teacher after finishing school
Susan B. Anthony
In 1848, Anthony joined the Daughters of Temperance, left her teaching in 1849, and became a recognized temperance leader in New York State
Anthony began her career as a temperance crusader and began being interested in women's rights and abolition after she met Elizabeth Cady Stanton
She fought for the civil rights for women and African Americans
Her and longtime friend, Frederick Douglass, disagreed on voting rights
Douglass, who was in the American Equal Rights Association (AERA), supported the 15th Amendment which gave voting rights to black males, but not women
Anthony thought that if women gave their support to help black males get the right to vote, then they should return the favor and help them, when she didn't get the support she was looking for, she dedicated her time solely to women's rights
She and Stanton published The Revolution, a New York newspaper, and organized many groups in support of equality
She and Stanton formed the Women's Loyal National League, the first national women's political organization
Because of the WLNL, 5000 women obtained about 400,000 signatures and persuaded Congress to pass the 13th Amendment, which guaranteed the freedom of African Americans
In 1866, she and Stanton helped establish the American Equal Rights Association, which helped secure the ballot for African Amercan men and women
In 1872, Anthony was arrested for voting in the presidential election and was honored internationally for her efforts towards women's rights and equality
Lucretia Mott
Around 1821, Mott became a Quaker minister
Mott and her husband strongly opposed slavery and supported William Lloyd Garrison and his American Anti-Slavery Society
Elected as the very first president of the American Equal Rights Association (AERA) after the Civil War ended
In 1840, she and her husband went to the World's Anti-Slavery Convention in London
At the convention, women were not allowed to fully participate, which led to Mott fighting for women's rights and organinzing the Seneca Falls Convention with Elizabeth Cady Stanton
In 1850, she published Discourse on Woman, which argued for equal political and legal rights for all women
In 1864, she helped to found Swarthmore College so that people can be educated as equally as those in the higher colleges
In 1867, she helped form the Free Religious Association in Boston
1983, Mott was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame
Grimke Sisters
Grimké Sisters (Angelina and Sarah Grimké)
At first, they lectured about their experiences with slavery on their plantation, then began to address abolitionism and women's rights
They were the first female speakers of the American Anti-Slavery Society and the first female speakers to speak in front of both men and women
The sisters put their ideas on abolition and women's rights in a lot of their works including: Appeal to the Christian Women of the South, written by Angelina and Epistle to the Clergy of the Southern States, published by Sarah
Sarah taught slaves how to read and Angelina held regular prayer meetings for family slaves
In 1838, Angelina became the first woman to address a legislative body
She spoke to the Massachusetts State Legislature on abolition and women's rights
Paula Wright Davis
Edited the first Woman's Rights focused newspaper
Was against the sexist ways of the Catholic Church
Abolitionist
Prohibited by her husband to speak publicly, so she organized conventions, etc.
Alice Paul (Post Antebellum Period)
Received undergraduate education from Swathmore College
Joined the National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA)
Her and Lucy Burns had a basement on F Street where they had suffrage meetings
Even though she was fragile appearance, she was able to get people to work together and accomplish tasks
Their suffrage organization had to raise their own money and get national support
After their attempts failed, they created the National Women's Party (NWP) in 1916
They used techniques such as "demonstrations, parades, mass meetings, picketing, suffrage watch fires, and hunger strikes" to get people to listen
January 1917, Paul and supporters protested against the White House, mainly President Woodrow Wilson, for refusing women suffrage
July 1917, many picketers were arrested for obstructing traffic, and were put in jail
Paul began a hunger strike, which landed her a psychiatric hospital, and was force fed raw eggs through plastic tubing
1920, Congress finally passed the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote
Causes:
In the 1830s and 1840s women had to live under traditional restrictions on them (no right to vote, own property, run for public office, etc..) as well as the new ones imposed on them by having to center their energies on domestic duties. They had to raise the kids, take care of the home, and leave the money making to their husbands. Obviously anybody, male or female, would be outraged when put under such boundaries. Then, to add on to that, the women who were very much involved in other reform movements were usually sent away by men saying what they were doing was 'inappropriate' for their gender. Limits like these forced the female population, like influential activists such as Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, to try to make reform movements to make them equal to men.
Goals:
The goal was very simple, they just wanted to be equal to the males. The most important piece of being equal to men, however, was the right to vote. Through the "Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions" they made the demand for suffrage known.
Successes:
Elizabeth Blackwell- became the first recognized woman physician Antoinette Brown Blackwell-first ordained woman minister in U.S. Lucy Stone- retained maiden name after marriage and became a triumphant women's rights lecturer. Angelina Grimke- retained maiden name after marriage. Seneca Falls, NY- women came together to create "Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions."
During the antebellum period women never got their suffrage. However, they made their stance known and were definitely heard. Through a number of organizations and individual successes women activists laid the essential foundation for future women to finally obtain the right to vote. Campaigns - 1893 women won the right to vote in Colorado Conventions - open discussion at conventions created the feeling that women were to be included in the "we the people" that Americans refer to.
Failures:
Prudence Crandall-attempts to let black girls in her school but was arrested. 1866- the 14th Amendment is passed and voters are categorized as "male". This is a symbol for a slap in the face.
Although there were individual successes, overall, women were not able to get the right the vote in this time period and the view of them as a whole by society was never really changed. Bradwell v. Illinois (1873) - denied Myra Bradwell the right to practice law in the United States. This case opened the door to restrictions on womens political rights, not only their civil rights. Minor v. Happersett (1875) - court ruling: that women were "citizens" and "persons", but these qualifications did not however give them the right to vote.
Strategies:
The women in this time period approached women's rights in a few ways, the most effective being conventions. One, and seemingly the most prominent, was through conventions, among many was the Seneca Falls Convention. An example would be the Seneca Falls Convention where the Declaration of Sentiments was drawn up. This was a good way considering that many of them received over a thousand people, like the first National Women's Rights Convention in Worcester, Mass. Another common approach was the of forming associations. There were countless associations formed, for example such as the National Woman Suffrage Association, formed by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The main goal of this association was amend the Constitution to allow woman's suffrage which main goal was to get women the right to vote by ammending the Constitution. Also, was the American Woman Suffrage Association which wanted the same except through state constitutions. Many other groups pushed for the sam goal, but using smaller steps, by attempting to amend state constitutions. By using both of these tactics the females of the time gained support and slowly but surely (many, many years) gained their acceptence along with their right to vote. Through petitions, like the "Declaration of Sentiments", and magazines, like The Revolution, and many other ways, women did not get the right to vote but they were definitely heard. women made it clear that their voice would be heard.
Woman's Rights
Key:
additions
deleted text
Overview:
For all of time, probably dating back to periods unrecorded, women had been underneath men and for the most part, they took it. After countless years of being the inferior gender, women all over America came together for the first time to be heard. Tired of their unequal rights and inability to have their voices heard, women from all over the country began to hold conventions, write radical articles in newspapers, and create small opportunities for themselves to begin the slow climb into equality with men. Though the collective goal of gender equality was not reached until after the Antebellum Period, these reforms and revolutionary ways of thinking were vital to the suffrage and equality movements as a whole. Without these preexisting societies, foundations, colleges, and documents, the idea of woman's rights would have been too revolutionary for the time. The feminists of the Antebellum time knew that equality would happen, slowly, but surely. They were tired of not being equal to men and not being able to voice their opinions in elections. Despite the fact that women were not able to receive their suffrage in the antebellum period they advocated their cause with the most effort possible. It is actually more understandable that after being held under men for so long they didn't become equal so fast. However, in later years, women looked upon the females in this time period for hope and inspiration and, due to these women, were able to get their inalienable rights, just like men. Women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony were the sites of motivation and without their influence then, women today wouldn't be in the equal position to men they are held at now.Events:
women in the antebellum period were unable to get their main goal, suffrage, within this time, that does not change the fact that
they laid the groundwork for women up until 1920 when they did obtain the right to vote. The women in this time tried their best
and that is what they are remembered for.
Primary Sources:
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and committee. July 19, 1848
http://www.pinn.net/~sunshine/book-sum/seneca3.html
The Declaration of Sentiments is a document signed by 68 women and 32 men on July 19, 1848, declaring “the grand basis for attaining the civil, social, political, and religious rights of women.” The creation of this declaration document caused lots of controversy; many respected their thoughts/ideas but didn’t actually want to “abandon conventional mindsets.” The people who wrote this demanded that women were "equal with man" and that they deserved equal rights.
Lucretia Mott. December 17, 1849
http://www.infoplease.com/t/hist/discourse-on-woman/
Discourse On Woman is a book written by Mott in which she talked about how women's lives were restricted. After publishing this book, she became more widely known. Once slavery was finally outlawed in 1865, she began to argue over the fact that black Americans should have the right to vote. Lucretia was from then on known as the central peacemaker of her time. She believed that since women worked just as hard as men did, that they were simply claiming their rights that they deserved.
Sojourner Truth. May 29, 1851.
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/sojtruth-woman.html"Ain't I A Woman" is a speech delivered by Sojourner Truth at the Ohio Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio. Truth argued that all of the white Americans often had more rights and privileges, while none of this was extended to blacks. She used examples about how white women were always helped into carriages, or over a mud puddle; but none of those gestures were extended to her. She thought that if white women were given respect like this, then black women should receive it too.
People:
Alice Paul (Post Antebellum Period)
Causes:
In the 1830s and 1840s women had to live under traditional restrictions on them (no right to vote, own property, run for public office, etc..) as well as the new ones imposed on them by having to center their energies on domestic duties. They had to raise the kids, take care of the home, and leave the money making to their husbands. Obviously anybody, male or female, would be outraged when put under such boundaries. Then, to add on to that, the women who were very much involved in other reform movements were usually sent away by men saying what they were doing was 'inappropriate' for their gender. Limits like these forced the female population, like influential activists such as Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, to try to make reform movements to make them equal to men.Goals:
The goal was very simple, they just wanted to be equal to the males. The most important piece of being equal to men, however, was the right to vote. Through the "Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions" they made the demand for suffrage known.Successes:
Elizabeth Blackwell- became the first recognized woman physicianAntoinette Brown Blackwell-first ordained woman minister in U.S.
Lucy Stone- retained maiden name after marriage and became a triumphant women's rights lecturer.
Angelina Grimke- retained maiden name after marriage.
Seneca Falls, NY- women came together to create "Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions."
During the antebellum period women never got their suffrage. However, they made their stance known and were definitely heard. Through a number of organizations and individual successes women activists laid the essential foundation for future women to finally obtain the right to vote.
Campaigns - 1893 women won the right to vote in Colorado
Conventions - open discussion at conventions created the feeling that women were to be included in the "we the people" that Americans refer to.
Failures:
Prudence Crandall-attempts to let black girls in her school but was arrested.1866- the 14th Amendment is passed and voters are categorized as "male". This is a symbol for a slap in the face.
Although there were individual successes, overall, women were not able to get the right the vote in this time period and the view of them as a whole by society was never really changed.
Bradwell v. Illinois (1873) - denied Myra Bradwell the right to practice law in the United States. This case opened the door to restrictions on womens political rights, not only their civil rights.
Minor v. Happersett (1875) - court ruling: that women were "citizens" and "persons", but these qualifications did not however give them the right to vote.
Strategies:
The women in this time period approached women's rights in a few ways, the most effective being conventions. One, and seemingly the most prominent, was through conventions, among many was the Seneca Falls Convention. An example would be the Seneca Falls Convention where the Declaration of Sentiments was drawn up. This was a good way considering that many of them received over a thousand people, like the first National Women's Rights Convention in Worcester, Mass. Another common approach was the of forming associations. There were countless associations formed, for example such as the National Woman Suffrage Association, formed by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The main goal of this association was amend the Constitution to allow woman's suffrage which main goal was to get women the right to vote by ammending the Constitution. Also, was the American Woman Suffrage Association which wanted the same except through state constitutions. Many other groups pushed for the sam goal, but using smaller steps, by attempting to amend state constitutions. By using both of these tactics the females of the time gained support and slowly but surely (many, many years) gained their acceptence along with their right to vote. Through petitions, like the "Declaration of Sentiments", and magazines, like The Revolution, and many other ways, women did not get the right to vote but they were definitely heard. women made it clear that their voice would be heard.
Links:
http://ladyamcal.wordpress.com/2010/03/17/19th-century-antebellum-timeline-historical-fiction/http://www.anb.org/cush_rights.html this is where i found the timeline of events, just search for the word women and then you'll find these 3 events
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Holyoke_College
http://www.npg.si.edu/col/seneca/senfalls1.htm
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womenstimeline1.html
http://www.pbs.org/stantonanthony/movement/index.html
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/naw/nawstime.html
http://www.ibiblio.org/prism/mar98/path.html
Bibliography:
Brinkley, Alan. American History A Survey. 11th. NY, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2003. 333-34. Print."Seneca Falls Convention." West's Encyclopedia of American Law. Ed. Shirelle Phelps and Jeffrey Lehman. Vol. 9. 2nd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2005. 98-100. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. High School. 10 Nov. 2009 http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=GVRL&u=s0003.
"Lucretia Mott Biography." Bio.. Web. 14 Nov 2009. <http://www.biography.com/articles/Lucretia-Mott-9416590>.
"Angelina Grimke." Peace Garden. Web. 14 Nov 2009. http://www.csufresno.edu/peacegarden/nominees/grimke.htm.
Coolidge, Olivia. Womens' Rights, The suffrage movement in America, 1848-1920. 1st ed. Clarke, 1966. 113-133. Print.
"Alice Paul." Alice Paul, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, 12 11 2010. Web. 21 Nov 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Paul>.
"Elizabeth Cady Stanton." Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, 21 10 2010. Web. 21 Nov 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Cady_Stanton>.
"Susan B. Anthony." Susan B. Anthony, Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, 19 10 2010. Web. 21 Nov 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_B._Anthony>.
"Lucretia Mott." Lucretia Mott, Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, 18 10 2010. Web. 21 Nov 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucretia_Mott>.
SARA